Arts, Culture, Entertainment

Carey Gibbons

jc78 — Thu, 30 Aug 2018 16:07:27 +0000

Carey Gibbons jc78 Thu, 08/30/2018 - 12:07

Career Field

Arts, Culture, Entertainment

Reference Assistant

Year of Graduation

2002

Fondulac District Library

I struggled at first in declaring a major at �鶹��ý�Ŷ�. I was drawn to English lit., especially plays, but I had no idea what I was going to do with an English major. My love of Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde won out, and I graduated with a degree in English in 2002. Part of what I loved about �鶹��ý�Ŷ� was that in taking all of the general education classes outside the English major, I learned that there was plenty I could do with an English degree in a variety of fields. I went on to study playwriting at Western Michigan University and graduated with an MFA in 2005. I specialize in short form playwriting — 10 to 45 minutes. I went off to the Czech Republic twice through WMU's Prague Summer Program and had my first short play produced at the Ypsilon Theatre in Prague. I also have a short play published in The Art of the One Act, (as Carey Daniels) a teching text edited by Arnold Johnston and Deborah Percy. I've produced a number of plays locally in Illinois and am currently working on a longer work focusing on LGBT themes called King/Queen.

As for what I do from day to day, I taught intro to composition and literature at Carl Sandburg College before switching fields and moving to the non-profit sector. I spent a number of years as the box office manager for the Peoria Symphony Orchestra, where I used my skills to assist in grant writing. Two years ago, I left my position with the orchestra to pursue a career as a librarian. I never stopped reading, and my first love has always been literature. I currently work as a reference assistant and young adult programmer at the Fondulac District Library. I get to play with books and talk books all day. I honestly can't think of a better job. And this whole trajectory started in the �鶹��ý�Ŷ� English department.

I live in Central IL with my husband and three cats. I never thought I'd end up in the Midwest, but I like it out here quite a bit.

My advice to current majors: 1. Don't be afraid of a humanities degree. The world still needs us! 2. Eat as much Mia's pizza as you can. You'll miss it after you've left.

Alanna Smith

jc78 — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 16:54:46 +0000

Alanna Smith jc78 Wed, 08/29/2018 - 12:54

Career Field

Arts, Culture, Entertainment

Assistant Editor

Year of Graduation

2012

Marvel Comics

At �鶹��ý�Ŷ�, I majored in English (creative writing path) with a minor in studio art. I also worked as a writer, cartoonist, and editor at the Lamron.

I'm a writer in my free time, and since graduating my plays have been produced three times and I also had a short film produced through a Tongal contest. I'm currently working on a YA fantasy novel and another play.

I moved to New York City after graduation and got several internships in various fields, including film, theater, publishing, and script reading. None of them were paid or led to anything, but most importantly they helped me narrow down my options to what I really did want to do, which was publishing.

Marvel contacted me shortly after graduation (I think on the strength of my cover letter) but it took me two years to actually get in the doors. During that time I kept building my credits and experience, started my own webcomic, and tried to learn as much as I could about what I wanted to do — and kept sending Marvel updated résumés and cover letters.

Eventually it worked and now I'm editing Avengers books, which is the coolest job ever. I'm using a lot of skills I learned from the Lamron and in my English and art classes, as well as skills I picked up from all my internships. I get to critique scripts, check art for readability and mistakes, and chat with and manage a bunch of awesome comic creators. It's the best!

Mike Varley

jc78 — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 16:47:12 +0000

Mike Varley jc78 Wed, 08/29/2018 - 12:47

Career Field

Arts, Culture, Entertainment

Animation Producer

Year of Graduation

2006

Avalanche Studios

First off, it turns out writing your English department alumni profile is the most self-conscious act of grammar policing you'll ever experience. Remember this in ten years when a professor reaches out to you on social media to participate.

I had the privilege of being �鶹��ý�Ŷ�'s first Creative Writing track grad back in 2006. The distinction has meant more personally than professionally, though it is a nice one-liner in interviews if you're confident enough in yourself. Regardless the track you choose, the English major is fantastic at getting you to practice critical thinking and written articulation. If you get really good at those things, you'll have near universal utility in the working world. You'll be equally capable at processing the requests of superiors and tasking work for subordinates. You'll also generate opinions based on thought rather than cliché, which is valued in any work environment worth participating in.

My own professional track is not conventional or complete. I spent the near entirety of my twenties working at a nursing home as a Recreation Therapist. My experience there was immensely valuable but not directly related to my degree. In that time, however, I wrote a dozen short stories; two spoken-word albums; numerous short films and two feature-length movies: "Bruce and Dom" and "Brunch: The Movie". I met amazing people and flourished creatively.

When the time came to move on from the nursing home, I reached out to my network of friends and got an interview with Avalanche Studios, a video game developer based in Stockholm with offices in SoHo. It was not the nursing home experience that got me in the door, but the variety of personal projects I had pursued. I've worked there for two years now as a producer and writer for the game Just Cause 3. I also continue to create independently and just finished up producing a ten-episode sketch comedy web series called "Good Clean F---".

If the life I just described sounds appealing to you, just make creative growth a priority throughout your life. �鶹��ý�Ŷ� is the perfect place to build that foundation. Once you're out of school it's critical to learn self-motivation without the threat — or promise — of a grade, but by then you'll be a graduate of an institution that gave you a genuine, rigorous education. Use that momentum to develop your own work habits and make friends with every bright person you can.

I believe very strongly in our shared education and want to help any �鶹��ý�Ŷ� alum I can. Email me at contact@mikevarley.com if you ever have questions or need some New York City connections.

Kate Royal

jc78 — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 16:35:57 +0000

Kate Royal jc78 Wed, 08/29/2018 - 12:35

Career Field

Arts, Culture, Entertainment

Playwright

Year of Graduation

2013

I entered �鶹��ý�Ŷ� in 2009 with the plan to earn an English Literature degree, go on to get my Masters in teaching, and become a high school English teacher. When I graduated in 2013, I had earned a Theatre/English degree and am heading toward a Masters in playwriting and screenwriting. It may not seem like the most significant change in track, but it certainly felt it at the time.

During the spring semester of my freshman year, in the midst of my first theatre class (History of Theatre since the 17th Century with Dr. Melanie Blood) I decided to put together a little reading of a script I had completed. It was my first play, and was written mainly as an experiment to see if I liked the medium. We did a small reading in a lounge at Writers House, 20 friends in chairs and blankets on the floor, and I and a classmate took on the two roles. Soon after, my RA Deb Bertlesman suggested I submit the play to a student theatre festival that would be happening next fall. I did and sure enough, it was selected.

That October, I was given the opportunity to direct my play Other Women in a festival alongside four other student pieces. The rehearsal process began, and I was confronted by the realization that dramatic writing meant my characters would be alive, three-dimensional, and made real in front of me - in front of an audience. It is something truly supernatural to witness, and by the end of that process, it was an experience I knew I wanted to build my life and career upon.

After a warm reception by the theatre community at �鶹��ý�Ŷ�, I continued to pursue playwriting, directing, and even on a rare occasion, acting. Organizations like Cothurnus and VegSOUP allowed me to supplement my academic interest in the literature of drama with hands-on opportunities to create. By day I was sitting in class with Dr. Tom Greenfield debating Pinter, by night - immersed in a rehearsal with friends and collaborators, many of whom I still work with.

Upon graduating, I relocated to the city of Rochester, NY to begin my career. Having grown up around New York City, I was not eager to dive headfirst into a community already overrun with people pursuing my exact same dream. Instead I chose to start in a place that I knew would welcome me, that would allow me to experiment, workshop, and make mistakes. I found a job working in the Box Office at the renowned Geva Theatre Center, and a creative home in the Multi-use Community Cultural Center (The MuCCC) thanks to its Artistic Director, John Borek.

In the fall of 2014, I debuted my play The Nameless Days of Gumdrop Smith, a work I had begun at �鶹��ý�Ŷ�, in the Rochester Fringe Festival. It was an experimental play on gender and sexual identity and fluidity with a cast of 5 (3 of whom were �鶹��ý�Ŷ� grads or students). It played only one performance, but the audience was full and the response positive. In the wake of that success, the next six months were met with a surge of creativity and good fortune. I was named an Artist-in-Residence at The MuCCC, premiered a full production of my play Mammoth (one that had been born on the Sturges Auditorium stage two years prior), and was featured in 585 Magazine’s “Female Founders” issue as well as the cover of City Newspaper. I was also able to return to �鶹��ý�Ŷ� and present a reading and discussion of my current project, Girls Can Tell, a play addressing campus sexual assault from the perspective of the students. And finally, I was accepted into Northwestern University’s MFA program in Writing for the Screen and Stage where I will begin this fall.

It has been a whirlwind few years. When I think back to the person I was when I entered �鶹��ý�Ŷ� to the person I am now, I feel nothing but gratitude to have been part of a program that allowed for such personal exploration and discovery. I think of Molly Smith Metzler, a fellow �鶹��ý�Ŷ� grad, playwright, and personal role model, who described her journey of discovering playwriting essentially by accident during her time on campus. I can’t help but relate. I am lucky to have had mentors and advisors who saw my potential and helped guide me to the place I am now, on the precipice of what I hope will be a long and prosperous career. The advice I am consistently given by those in my field, that I encourage others to follow as well, is to disregard the notion of a back-up plan. Your dream is your dream, and there is no need to assign deadlines yet.